Multi-machine preventive maintenance scheduling with imperfect interventions: A restless bandit approach

• Published in: Computers & operations research 2020-07, Vol.119, p.104927-15, Article 104927
• Main Authors: Ruiz-Hernández, Diego, Pinar-Pérez, Jesús M., Delgado-Gómez, David
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Dynamic programming; Imperfect interventions; Index policies; Machine maintenance; Maintenance management; Operations research; Preventive maintenance; Resource allocation; Restless bandits
• ISSN: 0305-0548; 1873-765X; 0305-0548
• DOI: 10.1016/j.cor.2020.104927

•We address the problem of allocating a set of repairmen to a number of deteriorating machines.•Interventions are scheduled to reduce operation and unexpected failures costs.•We consider the possibility that maintenance interventions may not be perfect.•Modelled as a restless bandit problem and an index policy is proposed.•Numerical experiments show the strong performance of the proposed policy. In this paper we address the problem of allocating the efforts of a collection of repairmen to a number of deteriorating machines in order to reduce operation costs and to mitigate the cost (and likelihood) of unexpected failures. Notwithstanding these preventive maintenance interventions are aimed at returning the machine to a so-called as-good-as-new state, unforeseeable factors may imply that maintenance interventions are not perfect and the machine is only returned to an earlier (uncertain) state of wear. The problem is modelled as a restless bandit problem and an index policy for the sequential allocation of maintenance tasks is proposed. A series of numerical experiments shows the strong performance of the proposed policy. Moreover, the methodology is of interest in the general context of dynamic resource allocation and restless bandit problems, as well as being useful in the particular imperfect maintenance model described.